News and Opinion

The Scottish Parliament has backed holding a public vote on the final terms of the Brexit deal. Holyrood voted 66 to 28 in favour of a People’s Vote after it was put forward in a Liberal Democrat amendment to a government motion during a chamber debate on the Brexit threat to international scientific research in […]

MPs should resist the pressure to accept any old Brexit deal and stand up to the new nationalism by demanding another people’s vote, says Labour MP Owen Smith The Thiepval Memorial looms over the rolling hills of the Somme region in northern France, a permanent reminder of the blood of nations that irrigated its fields […]

Ministers have been invited to read the ‘final’ draft of the prime minister’s Brexit deal – but there is something missing. Cabinet members were sent an email saying they could come and view the Withdrawal Agreement and several dropped everything and dashed to the cabinet office. But upon closer inspection it became clear the Irish […]

A report has suggested the “only winning scenario” for Northern Ireland following Brexit is a united Ireland. The Costs of Non-Unification – Brexit and the Unification of Ireland report forecasts that both Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic will suffer economically after the UK leaves the EU. The report examined three potential scenarios: a hard […]

Leaving the EU without a deal would be “absurd” and the whole process of Brexit can still be stopped, Tony Blair has said. The former prime minister said the British people should be given the chance to vote again on whether to remain in the EU because otherwise they faced either a “pointless” or a […]

A massive abuse of public trust will only increase the case for a People’s Vote on any Brexit deal, writes LAURA GRIFFITHS of For our Future’s Sake Arron Banks is a name few of us had heard before 2014. Unveiled that year as a record donor for the UK Independence Party, he has gone on […]

Theresa May has faced demands from both her own Cabinet and her DUP allies to show the full legal advice behind her Brexit plans. The Cabinet is on stand-by for fresh talks to agree a Brexit deal amid claims by Tory Leavers that the prime minister has already reached an agreement, while May will update […]

MATT KELLY watched Channel 4’s What the Nation Really Thinks and saw a sobering night for Nigel Farage We’re rubbish at international negotiations, our government is the laughing stock of the planet and our economy has gone from leading global growth to also-ran. But when it comes to world-class eye-rolling, Britain is still a force […]

A once-in-a-generation exhibition, featuring most of Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s surviving works, shines new light on a painter the world was slow to appreciate, ALASTAIR SMART reports. Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s The Peasant Wedding. Picture: KHM-Museumsverband – Credit: Archant Precious little is known about the life of the great Netherlandish painter, Pieter Bruegel the Elder. […]

British hauliers are being forced to turn down European work with some of the biggest American bands due to the threat of a no-deal Brexit. The Sun reported that one haulage boss had said fears of a logjam at Dover meant he had to turn down a £250,000 contract for a 25-truck tour with a […]

Shares in JD Wetherspoon dropped today with a leading analyst suggesting it was due to chairman Tim Martin’s focus on campaigning for a hard Brexit. JD Wetherspoon’s share price was down 9.5% as investors absorbed a first-quarter trading update in which the chain said like-for-like sales increased by 5.5% and total sales were up 6.2%. […]

The UK’s chemicals industry is facing “a huge cliff-edge” on the day after Brexit, with possible loss of access to an £18bn export market and risks to human safety, a report has warned. The House of Lords EU Energy and Environment Sub-Committee said government plans for the post-Brexit regulation of the industry are “not progressing […]

Sir Keir Starmer will use a top-level, Brussels meeting to warn of the looming danger of a ‘blind Brexit’. Labour’s shadow Brexit secretary will raise his concerns that the UK and European Union will end up striking a loose deal on future relations. He believes Tory divisions have stalled progress on trade links and will […]

A dominant, if unconventional, Irving Berlin was confounding the critics, as music took its first tentative steps towards ‘pop’. SOPHIA DEBOICK reports Sheet music cover image of ‘That International Rag’ by Irving Berlin. Picture: Sheridan Libraries/Levy/Gado/Getty Images – Credit: Getty Images Progress was the watchword of 1913. The US was at the vanguard, with the […]

PETER TRUDGILL on a grammar ‘rule’ ripe for debunking There seem to be quite lot of self-appointed experts on the English language around who like to invent grammatical rules. One of these ‘rules’, which Americans in particular seem to be very worried about, concerns among­ and between, and states that writers should only use between […]

UK pet owners could be forced to get their animals vaccinated up to four months before they travel to a European country in the wake of a no-deal Brexit. Dog and cat owners are being advised to speak to a vet as soon as possible if they want to take their pet on holiday after […]

Downing Street has admitted a Brexit deal remains a long way off. The prime minister’s official spokesman cautioned that even though there were rumours of a breakthrough earlier in the week the deadlock drags on. He said: ‘Don’t be under any illusion, there remains a significant amount of work to do.’ READ: NHS could be […]

A mooted £60m Hollywood adaptation of Nigel Farage and Arron Banks’ roles in the Brexit campaign is unlikely to happen, the publisher of the book it was due to be based on has said. It was reported last year that a major Hollywood studio was poised to sign a deal with Farage and Banks, who […]

Brexit campaign group Leave.EU and a firm owned by its founder Arron Banks face fines totalling £135,000 over breaches of data laws. A report from the information commissioner, Elizabeth Denham, confirmed that Leave.EU and Eldon – trading as GoSkippy – were being fined £60,000 each for “serious breaches” of the law which governs electronic marketing. […]

Reverend Richard Coles treated his Twitter followers to a quite incredible painting of Theresa May riding a lion, apparently discovered in a charity shop in Poole. The Saturday Live presenter tweeted the striking image to his 172,000 followers, saying: “This, spotted by someone in a charity shop in Poole apparently, must surely be saved for […]

SOPHIA DEBOICK on a forgotten TV classic from the 1970s, which treated its viewers like grown-ups. Talfryn Thomas in Survivors (1975) – Credit: Archant On the Wednesday night of April 16, 1975 at 8.10pm, immediately after the BBC 1 family film – a 1950s western starring Wildfire the Wonder Horse – Britain was hit with […]

A deal on the Irish border to break the Brexit deadlock is not close, the EU’s chief negotiator has said. Michel Barnier was speaking as Theresa May briefed the Cabinet on her plans to achieve a breakthrough in time to secure a special Brexit summit to seal an agreement in November. May is pursuing a […]

Fresh concerns have been raised over a nursing shortfall post-Brexit after a new review found that Britain could be left an additional 10,000 nurses short. In England, the latest nursing vacancy rate figure is 41,722. A new report explores the trends in the health and social care sector’s workforce, including the role of European nationals […]

Westminster’s environment committee has warned over a gap in environmental protections after Britain leaves the EU. Mary Creagh, who chairs the Environmental Audit Committee, said she was “deeply” worried there would be a hole in laws covering chemicals, waste, water and air. The government’s response to the committee’s recommendations, published today, still leaves one third […]

A manufacturing firm is to close two sites in the UK with “uncertainty” surrounding Brexit given as a factor behind the decision. Automotive and industrial supplier Schaeffler said the sites in Plymouth and Llanelli, South Wales, will close within two years. It is understood that up to 500 jobs could be affected. The German-owned company […]

With Ian Rankin’s latest novel featuring the cop topping the bestseller charts, STEVE ANGLESEY asks why the Scottish sleuth has not found similar success on the screen John Hannah as Rebus and James Cosmo as Morris Cafferty in the TV adaptation of The Hanging Garden. Picture: Clerkenwell Films/Getty Images A rebus is a puzzle; a […]

The SNP has said the “chaos and despair” of Brexit could result in a narrow majority of Scots voting for independence. The party made the claim after a new poll finding more than a third of people were more likely to back leaving the UK after the country exits the EU. Applying that to the […]

Remain would win a new Brexit poll by 54%-46%, according to analysis of one of the largest surveys carried out on the issue. Some 20,000 people were questioned in a Survation poll for Channel 4 which estimated 105 local authority areas that voted Leave in 2016 would now be carried by the Remain side. Channel […]

Ministers have been warned against causing further confusion over the post-Brexit future of EU citizens living in the UK. Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott spoke of the “very real distress” that mixed messages from the government had caused more than three million EU citizens, their families and employers – warning the “clock is ticking” and […]

Britain is built not just on its diverse roots, but on the deep scholarship which explores them. A new exhibition celebrates both aspects, writes BONNIE GREER. One of the more hilarious aspects of white ethnic-nationalists is their interpretation of British history. About a decade ago, I was invited to appear on Question Time alongside, among […]

Leading Brexiteers are urging their colleagues to put their phones in the microwave to protect them from eavesdropping by spies. A senior member of the European Research Group (ERG) of hardline Tory MPs has been urging his colleagues to buy microwaves for their parliamentary offices to stop Remainers and foreign spooks snooping on their talks, […]

Irish premier Leo Varadkar has told Theresa May that he will not accept a Brexit deal which gives the UK the unilateral power to halt “backstop” arrangements for the border with Northern Ireland. In a phone conversation with the Taoiseach, May said that any agreement would have to include a mechanism to bring an end […]